We're on a school break and while the kids are getting along, I wanted them outside. No amount of telling them to go out was doing it! They kept finding things to do inside, which goes quite against my efforts to clean. Somehow, the idea of paint came across my mind and off to google I went. Finger paint shouldn't be too hard to make.
The first recipe called for corn syrup. Nope, don't have that. The next recipe looked good and I had everything so off to the kitchen I went. Non-toxic, easy to make finger paint:
Gather jars or plastic cups, a plastic spoon, plastic knives or popsicle sticks (one for each color!), a small pot, a spoon, a stove.
In your pot mix the following on low heat:
1 cup of cold water
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cornstarch
The recipe I followed said low heat for 10 minutes. It should be runny, then firm up. Fifteen minutes later nothing was happening. I upped the heat. Soon I noticed some globs beginning to form and kept on stirring. Finally it was getting thicker. Remove from heat and let cool. Mine turned out pretty thick, it did not thin or thicken as it cooled so when it reaches your preferred consistency, remove from heat!
On to your jars. Once cooled, use a plastic spoon (or whatever) to spoon the mixture into your jars. I used 6 jars, I wouldn't recommend more than that. Here's where the 6 knives come in handy! Add food coloring to your jars and stir with a knife. I put about 5 drops in each jar, except purple which was 3 red and 3 blue and teal which was about 4 green and 5 blue. Leave the knives in the jars and turn the kids loose! By using seperate knives, I wasn't mixing colors and they can easily glob some onto their paper again, without mixing colors.
The kids were in charge of gathering paper and utensils- paintbrushes, sponges, popsicle sticks, etc. I think this is a small amount of paint for 4 kids, but then again, that means they'll use it all up and I won't have to worry about storing it. The clothes drying rack is outside to hang wet pictures on and for once, they've been outside for 15 minutes without coming back in!
I'll update on how easily (or not) clean up goes!